Lucy Cunningham
“Many of us are very hard on ourselves. I take a compassionate approach in my work as the first step to helping you to feel compassionate towards yourself.”
Lucy Cunningham PhD, BSc (Hons), Dip Couns, MBACP
Therapeutic Counsellor
My aim is to help you to make changes for the better in life and relationships. Untangling and making sense of complicated and often conflicting emotions can make you better able to heal, to make choices, set boundaries, and feel more in control of your life.
I provide a supportive and accepting environment where you may voice difficult thoughts and feelings, which can be hard to do even with the closest friends and family.
I am used to working with loss, grief, bereavement, anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship difficulties and many other issues which arise in the counselling room. I have a wide experience of working with people who are affected by cancer, whether directly or indirectly and I believe strongly in a holistic approach to both physical and mental wellbeing.
Many of us are very hard on ourselves. I take a compassionate approach in my work as the first step to helping you to feel compassionate towards yourself.
If you have any questions and would like to know more about counselling, please email lucycunningham@summertownclinic.co.uk
Practitioner Summary
- BACP individual member (MBACP)
- BACP Certificate of Proficiency
-
CPCAB Level 5 Diploma in Psychotherapeutic Counselling: ‘Working Therapeutically with Developmental and Relational Trauma’, Authentic Therapy and Training.
- Foundation in Group Analysis, Institute of Group Analysts
- Postgraduate Certificate in Psychodynamic Counselling, University of Oxford
- Certificate of Training as an Accredited Mediator, London School of Mediation
- Postgraduate Diploma, History of Art, University of Oxford
- PhD, Cancer Genetics, University of Edinburgh
- BSc (Hons) Genetics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
- General issues: We can work together to explore a variety of issues including aging, anger, attachment, bereavement, illness/physical ailments, life changes, loss, neurodiversity, relationships and work-related stress. We can work on any distressing symptoms you may be experiencing, such as anxiety, depression, eating issues, emotional numbness, grief, panic attacks, procrastination or suicidal thoughts.
- Developmental/relational trauma: I have an advanced diploma in working with trauma arising from developmental or relational difficulties, which includes emotional neglect as well as more overt forms of abuse. Emotional disconnection through childhood can sometimes explain why we feel psychological distress or suffer troubling symptoms even if we appear to have ‘had it all’.
- Long-term and serious health conditions: Through working in the health sector and cancer charities in different roles for a number of years I became interested in chronic health conditions, as well as in the psychological impact of a cancer diagnosis. I’ve previously worked in cancer research, gaining a PhD in cancer genetics and working directly with families who live with the challenge of being at high risk of developing this disease.
- Relationship issues: If it seems helpful for you, we may use a useful model – Transactional Analysis – to examine relationship dynamics. I am also qualified mediator, which I find can be an invaluable addition to my practice when relationship difficulties are an issue.
Before meeting, we will speak on the phone or by video link to discuss what you would like to gain from counselling. If appropriate, we will arrange an initial consultation appointment.
Appointments last 50 minutes. The first session is a chance for you to explain in more depth what has brought you to counselling, to check that we feel we will work well together and a time to start drawing out the issues that we may need to focus on. We will explore how counselling could work for you, covering important issues such as confidentiality, professional conduct and practical arrangements.
We then agree how many sessions we will start with and arrange to review our work on a regular basis. Most people come to counselling weekly. Many start with quite short term work of 6-12 sessions, but others know from the start that they will want a much longer term commitment. We can extend or cut short the duration of sessions as needed.
Let us know if you’ve got a question, so we can add it here. Email us here: hello@summertownclinic.co.uk or click on the message button.
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